Reginald the Vampire Season 1 Episode 9 Review: No One Dies for Failing the SATs
The time has come for Reginald to pay for his behavior. Reginald the Vampire Season 1 Episode 9, “No One Dies for Failing the SATs,” is the episode where Reginald is finally backed into a corner and forced to reveal his secret to his coworkers and friends.
On its surface, “No One Dies for Failing the SATs,” is a great penultimate episode. The danger is imminent, and all the characters are starting to put pieces into place. It feels so neat and tidy except for the coming doom. The scene at Reginald’s party, where Mike and Maurice make up and Ashley and Nikki flirt are both moments we’ve been building toward and moments that we love.
It’s so saccharine that the episode feels like sparkly peppermint candy. This is only possible because of Jacob Batalon’s performance. The way he portrays Reginald brings us back to the character we saw in the series premiere before he became a vampire. His power turned him into an asshole, and now he has to repair the damage that was done.
In a way, Sarah bringing a mirrorball to the party is fitting. Yes, she makes an analogy to Reginald being like the sun, and the mirrorball reflects the light really well, but I think the way the mirrorball reflects light also fits well. To borrow some lyrics from Taylor Swift’s song “mirrorball,” he’s essentially seeing every part of himself reflected in his friends at this moment.
Outside of Reginald making amends, we also have the assessment to think about. The more we hear about this assessment the more we realize what a Herculean task it is. I never expected anything else from the moment Angela introduces it, but now that it’s crunch time it feels like some of these details should have been presented earlier on to increase how foreboding the assessment would seem.
We’ll know more after we see next week’s finale, but it’s possible that the pacing is what will keep the finale interesting.
Last, but not least we have Angela’s reassignment to the Yukon. When the season started I was sure Angela would be the big bad for most of the season, but Reginald the Vampire Season 1 has slowly made her more likable and approachable.
She’s an imperfect character. (We won’t forget what she did to Maurice’s mom anytime soon.) However, she’s also trying to survive within the vampire’s political system. Until now, that system has served her, but the reassignment has changed her loyalties and hopefully will open the door for more exploration into her past.
Overall, “No One Dies for Failing the SATs,” is a great penultimate episode that gives us some great character moments and makes us excited for the possibilities of a new season.
What did you think of this episode of Reginald the Vampire? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Reginald the Vampire airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Syfy.
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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.